Update: Congratulations to Laura (lane.family@) and Sheila (sheilasmith2000@). You should each have an email from me with instructions on how to claim your prize!
Two weeks ago Mr. Crumbs and I flew to a wedding. We boarded two airplanes to get there, and another two airplanes to get home.
Every single one of the planes was delayed.
- Missing flight paperwork?
- Need to refuel after 15 minutes of taxiing?
- Touch and go fog at LAX?
- Airplane a no-show?
- Need to change airlines?
- All of the above?
The time spent with family was fun. The to and from? Not so much.
There we were, sitting in our seats with our seatbelts securely fastened, not really knowing if we were EVER going to take off. My stomach let out a tiny pain that only the well-trained body can recognize. The smoothie I had for breakfast had officially run its course. I was hungry.
As visions of sugar plums and tacos danced through my head, I traded in a dollar spot Sudoku book for my trusty spiral notebook and started to plan our menus for the month (which I shared last week).
With an ever increasing appetite, my imagination ran wild. Huge and exquisitely prepared meals filled the days. Lots of freshly baked goods and desserts were essential for every meal. Four weeks of glorious food bliss were headed our way!
I held out the notebook to admire my handiwork and I thought to myself -
Am I crazy? I don’t have time for all of that!
I shook my head and brushed off the eraser shavings from the pages. I don’t want to spend every day, all day cooking. My family doesn’t need gourmet. With the unpredictable appetites of a commuter bicyclist and two young children, leftovers nights are a must!
We’re all in the same boat. We need easy. We need healthy. We need to work when it’s worth it and welcome reprieve when it matters.
Enter the list of “easy meals.” These are the meals that I can make in 30 minutes or less for busy nights or even a night when I need a break in the kitchen. Lucky for me, these are also some of my family’s favorites.
DIY Salad: There’s almost always a container of washed and chopped lettuce in our fridge. Pull this out with any other fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts that we have and dinner is done.
Pasta: Like the lettuce, we almost always have a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce in the freezer. If not, there’s pesto in the fridge. If all else fails, a few smashed cloves of garlic and cheap butter are delicious too. Choose whatever shape pasta is available and call it a night.
Gourmet Grilled Cheese: While my family doesn’t need gourmet, it’s kinda fun to spruce up “boring” meals. Slicing fruit takes less than a minute and mixing up the cheeses offers plenty of sandwich options.
Stir-Fry: The perfect way to use up random pieces of leftover meat and veggies. Toss in some soy sauce and ginger and serve!
Pulled BBQ Pork/Chicken: Let the crockpot do the work and shred the meat with a fork before serving. Homemade rolls can be made ahead of time in batches and frozen until the day of.
Quesadillas: It’s like taco night, but on a griddle with extra cheese. Keep it simple (meat and cheese) or add in leftover vegetables too. Homemade salsa and you’ve got a winner.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are simply my go-to meals when I know there won’t be time to cook. Or I’ll be too exhausted from sitting on two airplanes and in multiple terminals to bother making something else. 
Create Your Own Easy Meal
Despite all the bad hype that pre-packaged and frozen foods get (even myself being a culprit of the smack talk), not all the manufacturers are trying to make it difficult for us to eat good. Some of them are trying to make it easy!
Farm Rich is one of the good guys. Their focus is to “make wholesome, easy-to-prepare snacks sure to please the entire family,” and they’re right on the mark with most of their products.
To be honest with you, I was slightly hesitant when they contacted me to try their products. I knew their stuff was frozen and I normally snub my nose at the thought of even browsing that isle (see “smack talk” comment above for further clarification).
So I went to their website and did some googling and read some labels.
As it turns out, their stuff isn’t so bad after all. Take for example one of their most popular items, the mozzarella sticks. They’re made with 100% real cheese, the breading contains wheat flour (instead of the more common and less nutrient filled white flour) and there’s no hydrogenated oils or monosodium glutamate or any of those other long-named commonly-found yet unknown toxins.
Another good side dish are the jalapeño poppers. They’re also made with 100% real cheese, contain wheat in the breading and no creepy ingredients are named.
Looking for a main meal? Try the original meatballs. Four main ingredients with some seasonings – and that’s it.
The key to buying (and enjoying) pre-packaged items is to aim for simplicity. Because…. (dun dun dun)…. The more complicated the item, the more ingredients it takes to pull it off. The more ingredients listed, the greater the chances are we won’t know what they all are.
Take for example the mini quesadillas. It only takes a few ingredients to make them fresh at home, but imagine what it takes to prepare them so that they cook up crispy on the outside, yet melted gooey on the inside, in an oven, despite being frozen. These had a very long ingredient list with some items that may raise a red flag.
But one bad apple shouldn’t ruin the whole orchard.
We cook from scratch whenever we can, so taking the night off and letting someone else do the work is a welcomed bread. Being a day care teacher, private chef, housekeeper, laundry service, chauffeur and family CEO takes a lot of work. Mozzarella sticks are one of Mr. Crumbs’ favorite snacky foods and I enjoy a clean oven too much to attempt to make them on my own. Besides, who doesn’t need a night off every now and then?
[GIVEAWAY CLOSED]
Disclosure: I received a sample product for review. All opinions are my own (and the cheese sticks are really good!).
My favorite easy meal is spaghetti and jarred sauce
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Our favorite easy meal… beans and rice!!
We make up our own Pasties and freeze them. Pull out of freezer and microwave (8minutes) or if you thought to pull out early and they are thawed reheat in the oven. Top with ketchup ~not gravy – that’s an unknowing tourist thing~ and eat.
Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese!!! Yum
We love to do sub sandwiches at home on a busy night, or our own version of gourmet grilled cheese (avocado and pepperoni, anyone?). And a dinner of fried mozzarella, marinara, and a side salad never gets complaints, either!
My favorite easy meal is Talapia with a raw tomato sauce. Sounds complicated but it is not. I can have this on the table within 30 minutes. It is a Racheal Ray recipe. : )
My favorite easy meal is pasta. With cream cheese sauce, tomato sauce or just butter and parsley.
Once again, my list is eerily similar to yours. We had a DIY salad just last night.
Yes, I am a subscriber. (And enjoy it greatly!)
Eggs…scramble them, add meat and/or veggies, or put on bread for a sandwhich.
I am a subscriber.
Mozzarella Sticks
Spicy Can Opener Soup is a favorite:
http://harvestlanecottage.blogspot.com/2010/03/spicy-can-opener-soup.html
Mozarella sticks would be fun to buy. It’s something I really like but never buy because it’s an extra.
Meatloaf. I can make it ahead and then just pop into the oven. Just roasted brocolli for a side. My picky eaters favorite meal.
Pasta with pesto….yum!
Our favorite quick meal is Tacos. I brown hamburger when I buy it and freeze multiple bags of taco meat. Thaw meat and chop up the lettuce and tomato and dinner is served.
I would have to go with Mr. Crumbs and get the Mozzarella sticks. Yummy!
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My favorite quick meal is tofu fried rice.
I just subscribed to your E-mail updates. I have been following your blog for about a month and I love it!
Ooh, the Farm Rich cheese sticks are yummy! My favorite easy meal is mexi-beans and rice. We always have some extra cooked beans around, and I still haven’t gotten the hang of dry rice to cooked rice amounts, so when I cook too much, then we can have mexi-beans and rice. Just add spices and cheese, and we’re set!
I would for sure get the mozzarella sticks. They’re awesome.
My favorite easy meal is tacos!
My husband and kids love mozzarella sticks, so that is what I would get.
I would redeem the coupon for jalapeno poppers. Sounds like great football food, yum!
Chicken and Rice Casserole
My favorite easy meal is frozen meatballs and spaghetti.
Our favorite Farm Rich product are the Cheesesticks. My kids had them for an afternoon snack today!
Our favorite quick meal is spaghetti.
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I would probably get the meatballs to jazz up our easy spaghetti night!
Pasta
Tacos is a easy meal for me
thanks
I would get pizza slices
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My favorite quick meal is pasta with sauteed shrimp!
I am a subscriber and so enjoy reading it.
If I won I think I would get the mozzarella sticks but if I tell the kids they may sway me to get the french toast sticks as a special treat.
My favorite easy meal is pizza
I would get the stuffed pretzel bites
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I tweeted
https://twitter.com/jjak2003/status/259863563018055680
Our favorite easy meal is to boil some frozen ravioli and top with a jar of sauce.
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If I won we would have to take a family vote because I would be torn between the mozz. sticks and the jalapeno peppers!
my favorite easy meal, besides take out, is mac and cheese
i would get the steak and cheese bites
i subscribed too get your emails
i tweeted under name velvetelvis40
Our favorite easy meal is breakfast for dinner! We can throw together eggs (and use random leftovers as an add in), toast and cut up fruit and it takes less then 10 minutes and dinner is on the table.
Meatballs!!